Jan. 6 Rioter Barred From Holding Office For Life Under Insurrection Clause After His Appeal Is Dismissed

By Kaila Philo
November 16, 2022 10:08 a.m.

The New Mexico Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal from “Cowboys for Trump” founder Couy Griffin to overturn a decision that barred him from holding public office for life under the 14th Amendment’s Disqualification Clause.

Griffin was arrested and convicted for entering restricted areas at the Capitol on Jan, 6, 2021. At the time, he was serving as a commissioner of Otero County, New Mexico, where he was elected in 2018. But residents began pushing to have him removed from office in 2021 for a number of reasons, including allegedly using his position to promote Cowboys for Trump.

The Otero County commissioner has become notorious for trying to help former president Donald Trump undermine the 2020 election, including pushing for a “forensic audit” of the 2022 election results that never saw the light of day.

Earlier this year, three New Mexico residents, with the help of the watchdog group Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), petitioned for Griffin to be removed from office over his active participation in the Jan. 6 insurrection. The residents alleged in the complaint that Griffin brought multiple firearms with him to Washington, D.C. and gave speeches “encouraging people to go to Washington and stop the transfer of power.” Griffin was allegedly photographed scaling a wall to get closer to the Capitol building.

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